Busting the Myth – Teesta Setalvad cheated residents of Gulberg society

Busting the Myth – Teesta Setalvad cheated residents of Gulberg society

Rukmini Sen

Myth- Teesta Setalvad cheated residents of Gulberg society. There has been a propoganda against Teesta Setalvad that she had collected money in the name of memorial “for” the victims “from” the victims and others. That she never gave that money to the victims.

Fact- Teesta Setalvad gave legal aid to the victims/residents of Gulberg society. Yesterday, 2nd of June was the day of the verdict of Gulberg massacre.

Gulberg Massacre case as it sounds is about the massacre that happened at Gulberg society. 69 people were killed.

What really happened? 

Victims of Gulberg society had lost their family members and suffered huge loss of property in the 2002 Gujarat riots. They wanted to sell their property and move to a peaceful place.

The price of their property had fallen after the riots. They had no support from Gujarat government. Many victims across Gujarat had sold off their land and moved lock, stock and barrel after 2002 carnage.

Teesta requested her friends and people at large to buy off the land so that the victims don’t face any further loss. She suggested Gulberg society can be turned into a memorial and the victims will be able to sell their land at market price. The money she collected was not enough. In fact only her friends and close sympathizers donated money for the memorial. The money turned out to be lesser than what the victims were getting otherwise for their land. Teesta informed about this to both the donors and the victims.. No money was taken from victims ever! The money was being collected for them. The donors (in writing) and on record said Teesta should use their donation for any of her other activism work.

Teesta Setalvad didn’t use the collected money for anything else. One reason why even after CBI was unleashed upon her nothing happened to her. Her donors are on record donors. Every detail to the t is maintained. Yesterday, 2nd of June 2016 was the day of verdict for Gulberg massacre where Teesta Setalvad and her organisation Citizens for Justice and Peace had provided legal aid to all the members of Gulberg Society.

Gulberg Society has in past told all authorities that they had not made any complains against Teesta Setalvad. They had also made an official complain about letter heads of Gulberg Society being stolen for filing a false complain against Teesta Setalvad.

As a citizen and for the Nation 

Please do your research and enquiry and decide why will members of Gulberg Society use Teesta Setalvad‘s office for legal aid (all this while…till yesterday for that matter) and also file a complain against her!

Why did Teesta Setalvad and the Gulberg Society stand together yesterday in court? and why while it has been like this for years some media houses have reported that residents of Gulberg society have filed a case against Teesta Setalvad? 

Why do we forget so easily?

We forget too much, too soon and to suit the narrative of what we think is our people, our group and our families.

I firmly believe both Godhra and Gujarat could have been avoided if the central and Gujarat government had taken timely action. This is a sensitive matter. I request you to go through the court papers of what happened in Godhra and how the rest of Gujarat happened after that. You could also refer to the book The Fiction of Fact Finding- Modi and Godhra by Manoj Mitta.

I support and respect Teesta Setalvad‘s position of not asking fordeath sentence for even the most gruesome crime. For Justice and Peace must be our aim.

Any man’s death is death of humanity.

Any man’s death diminishes me!